Yep Third, Gama Banjin is awesome, I officially dub him yours :P
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Bwarharhar I will have you buying Gama plushies off me by the time I'm done with you O.o
Yousha: I'd like to thank you personally for the most in-depth review I've received yet. Don't you worry, Iro may seem perfect, but only because I haven't had the chance to delve into his character yet. As for his name, I originally just rolled it around in my brain, because I wanted a short, simple title that could stand for my protagonist, without being too benign. I only looked it up later to find out what it meant...and I thought it was perfect :) As for the issues with the line segments...yeah...I can't figure out how to get it to double-space properly, and I apologize. Too many people have complained about how thick my paragraphs tend to get though, so you and I are just going to have to suffer --
Tenchi, thanks for cheerin' me up
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Tracing the Clouds
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Chapter 11: Just Look Up
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Iro leapt nimbly over the rooftops now, trying his best to land lightly so as not to dislodge any of the crumbling ceramic shingles, or disturb any of the slumbering inhabitants. Today, he decided, was a special day, a day to be celebrated. It was the day of his first mission. They wouldn't be leaving until later that afternoon, so he thought it only fitting to celebrate his long-awaited acceptance into his new village by reviving an old pastime of his: watching the sunrise. It had been a favorite habit of his since...well, since as long as he could remember.
As he traveled over the silent houses, he could see the beginnings of morning peeking over the four carven heads. He couldn't help but gasp at the beauty of it. His heart filled with a deep, stinging melancholy as he remembered sitting on the roof of his Clan's compound, head rested on his knees as he watched a sunrise much like this one. Sound Country had been beautiful then. Orochimaru had formed his hidden village shortly after, and it was then that Iro's peaceful morning ritual had discontinued as the Sound Country skyline became mottled and grey. A cloud had fallen over his homeland, a grim burden that would never be lifted. The Karu complex had fallen into sad disrepair when he left, and the young man still felt a deep, wasting ache when he thought back to the words that no one had bothered to clean off the walls, written in red paint by some unknown vandal.
The Soul of Sound is dead.
It was the loneliest feeling in the world, the day he was forced to agree with the miscreant who'd vandalized his family's home. He'd sat for hours on the roof of his empty house, ghosts from the past calling to him, mourning for what had been, and what would never be, and it had taken all the courage in him to set his mind. He had stood then, and unsheathing the katana which had been passed from Karu to Karu since the birth of the clan of the Hunt, he'd taken it to the Hitai-ita upon his forehead, drawing it across in a slow, deliberate motion. He'd realized then that the clan had fallen, but he swore then and there that he would not die quietly. The world would know the name Karu long after he'd left it.
It was then, too, that the mark had surfaced again. He was told he'd had it at birth, but it had faded as he grew, yet there it was. It was the Gure-Kyohaku, the Grey Star. It was said to be the guiding light of his people. The legend within the clan was that once in every millennia, a star would fall on the eve of childbirth, heralding the arrival of a new warrior that would lead the Karu to glory. Iro's mother had passed away when he was a young boy of six, but he could still hear her voice as she told him the stories. She'd always finish by poking the spot where his mark lay hidden gently, telling him of the night he'd been born. She had said the whole sky had been a shower of light. "Just look up," she had whispered quietly to him, as they sat huddled together in the grass of the Karu compound courtyard, "they grow brighter, when their child is watching." She had smiled that smile he'd never forget, etching itself permanently into his being.
He had cried bitterly, upon seeing the mark again. He couldn't be his clan's savior. It was too late for the Twilight Children. He could, however, ensure that they would never be forgotten. The lump in his throat made it hard to breathe now as he cleared the blurring gaps between rooftops. His head bowed, he spoke softly. "I can't help them now, mother, but I will do my best to bring our name honor..." the early morning light caught the strange glitter in the shadow on his face. "I will be your Falling Star."
So wrapped up in his own thoughts was he, that he barely stopped in time to avoid tripping over the small, huddled form that sat a few feet in front of him. The girl's back was to him, and from the way her shoulders shuddered he could tell she was crying. They stiffened upon his arrival, and a dark head turned slowly, wincing as if expecting a blow. Her white eyes left Iro agape. They were shockingly pale, almost without irises, and they had no pupils to speak of. The only hint that she was even looking at him was the faint silver outline of the iris, as they wavered over him, her face a mixture of fear, and oddly enough, relief.
Without a word, she turned back, facing the huge stone Hokage. Unsure of what to do, Iro made his way cautiously to his usual seat on the ridge of the roof, where the spine of the structure made a perfect bench. Taking his placer a few feet away from her, he did his best to ignore the soft sniffles coming from his left. It was impolite to take note of someone's moment of weakness.
"A-ano, B-but what are y-you doing h-here?" The dark girl managed to stutter out, attempting to fix him with a steely gaze, and failing miserably.
Iro tilted his head, deep brown eyes peering over at her, as if searching inside her for something. "I just came to watch the sunrise." He said quietly, gesturing with a bandaged hand at the monument. "Old habit, I guess."
Hinata spoke again, still not looking at him. His eyes made her feel uncomfortable. She knew he wasn't trying to, but the assessing look he gave her made her feel like he knew more about what she felt than she'd rather anybody knew. "This i-is Hyuuga C-clan property."
Iro shrugged, fixing his gaze on the giant stone head of the Shodaime, admiring the way the rays of the sun seemed to touch it first, spreading out from the halo it formed about him to the other three Hokage. "I can leave, if you'd like."
"That's okay."
He looked over again at the girl. She seemed so small and frail, sitting there like that, shivering in the early morning chill, trails from the tears she'd just been crying still fresh on her pale face. He smiled knowingly. "You wanna talk about it?"
Starting slightly, Hinata looked up, rubbing the salty liquid from her eyes and cheeks. She eyed him suspiciously. "About what?"
"What's bothering you, silly." This caught Hinata completely off-guard, almost as much so as when the young man slipped his faded maroon sweater with the odd clan emblem over his head, offering it to her. "You must be cold. Here, take this." Hinata looked down at the soft, warm fabric in her hands, then back up at the young Leaf nin who sat a few feet from her, smiling warmly at her. She suppressed a gasp as her eyes traveled up his outstretched arm.
It was covered in long, deep scars. With her inherent knowledge of the chakra highway, Hinata knew immediately that each scar held a purpose. The intricate webbing of deep gashes would appear to the normal eye as chaotic slashes, either self-inflicted or some kind of bizarre torture the bearer had suffered, but with the Hyuuga bloodline Hinata could see. They laced over his tenketsu. His chakra opening points. What implications this had were, however, completely lost as her wide eyes came at long last to rest on the marred Sound Hitai-Ita that the boy wore tied around his arm.
"Y-you're that n-ninja from Hidden Sound!!" Hinata squeaked. Iro suppressed a giggle. He didn't know why, but he suddenly found this girl completely adorable. "yeah, that's what they tell me." His eyes creased upward in a warm grin. "Karu Iro, last pure heir of the Karu dynasty. And who might you be?" Hinata's eyes became impossibly wider at the question of her identity. She was unsure whether to respond, or run for the hills screaming. After some soul searching, she decided to go with the former. "Hyuuga Hinata."
Iro extended a bandaged hand. "Pleased to meet you, Hinata-san." The Hyuuga girl blushed at the show of respect, timidly reaching out and taking his hand, which he clasped gently, shaking in slow, rhythmic motions. She looked down, blushing deeply, and noted the strange markings on the gauze-like cloth his hand was wrapped in. She risked a glance at his face, noting the large tattoo on his left cheek, matching the symbol on his sweater. "Now, what is it that's bothering you so?" Hinata's face fell. Iro placed a friendly hand on her shoulder, smiling when the girl didn't recoil. "It's okay, it's not like I have anyone to go spreading gossip to, you can tell me."
Hinata was caught in the crossfire as either side of her waged war upon the other. There was the quiet, hurt little girl that only wanted attention, only wanted affection. The lonely side of her that cried out in the gloom for someone to talk to, and now, here he was, a pleasantly random stranger whom she could forget easily, and feel better after having vented her misery to him. But the other side of her, the fierce, proud Hyuuga, who lived to honor the Clan raged against that idea, screaming in her head that to stand alone was to be strong, a rock in the ocean. Unbending, unmoving, solid. Iro raised an eyebrow as she sighed, coming to a conclusion. She wasn't that rock, she wasn't immovable. She was Hinata, and she hurt.
"It's just..." she started, choking almost immediately as the tears came flooding back. Iro scooted a tiny bit closer, patting her back comfortingly. "It's j-just I try s-so hard to make f-fath—To m-make the c-clan proud, but...I'm s-so weak..." Iro frowned. So that was it, eh? He'd always hated the way his clan had treated the weaker children, always pushing them much too hard to live up to expectations. It had never come as any surprise to him when he heard about a child taking their own life. He looked down at the little girl in front of him, and suddenly understood why Naruto was so adamant about protecting his precious ones.
He didn't want to see her hurt.
Taking her hand in his, he caught her gaze and held it with a look of pure steel. "Listen to me, and listen good. You will never be the strongest, it's simply impossible. There will always be someone stronger than you." Hinata looked at her feet, tears welling up once more. What was he saying? "But...that doesn't make you weak. Everyone has to find their own way, their own strength. As long as you breathe, you are strong. Never forget that, and whenever you feel down, just look up."
With that, he stood and stretched. Looking at the now fully revealed sun, he frowned. "Look at that! You made me miss the sunrise!" Hinata visibly shrank. "A-ano, Iro-kun" Iro chuckled warmly. "I was only kidding, Hinata. Sheesh, some people have no sense of humor!" Hinata started to apologize again, then realized that perhaps this too, was only in jest. She gave him a tiny smile, which seemed to make his grin grow even larger. "T-thank you, Iro-kun..."
Iro waved over his shoulder "Any time, Imouto." With that, he was gone.
Hinata's eyes snapped up in surprise. Little sister? She couldn't help but smile. Then she realized something. "W-wait! Y-your sweater..." Hinata's voice died in her throat as she realized he was too far away to hear her. She'd just have to return it the next time she saw him.
Just look up.
She smiled quietly, and took his advice.
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Longer than most of my chapters, and for good reason. I really, truly wubb Hinata, and think she could use all the hugs she can get :). NO, Iro doesn't have any romantic feelings for her, he just wants to look out for her, since he knows how much it hurts to have a family, and not have one at the same time. Sorry, but I won't be segmenting this one, it takes too long, and I've only got a few minutes left to post this.
R&R!